The federal government said it would hold hearings next month on controversial applications to mine the ocean floor.

Exploration spending in the mining sector peaked in 2012 and has since declined for over a decade. Last year, global funding for explorers dropped near lows last seen in 2005. This could mean funding ...

In the global race for critical minerals, one little-known international agency has long held the keys to a potential motherlode — vast quantities of metals located on the remote seafloor. The ...